“Please, sah,” said the old man, bowing humbly and pulling at the brim of his tattered hat, “which ob de kyars is er gwine to Ferginny?”
“Which way are you bound?” asked the official, sharply. “East or west?”
Uncle Phin had none. “De man haint passen ob ’em roun yet,” he said.
“Near by dar, sah! Clus on to it!” cried the old man, eagerly, delighted at hearing the familiar name.
“Well, then you want to take the first through train going east, and it won’t be along till midnight.”
With this the busy railroad man hurried on, leaving our friends gazing at each other in dismay. Midnight! and now it was only seven o’clock. What should they do and where should they go to pass those five hours? They did not dare go very far from the railway station, and so they wandered aimlessly about in the darkness near it, growing more weary, more wet, cold, and uncomfortable with each moment.
At length they paused before an empty freight car, one door of which was partly open. Why not seek shelter from the storm in it?
Nobody saw them as they climbed into the car, which they found to be half filled with sacks of corn-meal. On these they made themselves quite comfortable, and here they decided to wait patiently until the lighted clock on a tower above the station which they could see from the car door, should tell them that it was nearly midnight. Of course they had no idea of going to sleep. That would never do; for they must watch the clock. How slowly its hands crept round. Arthur resolutely turned his eyes away from it, determined not to look again for at least half an hour. When satisfied that that length of time had elapsed, he glanced at its round yellow face, only to find that barely five minutes had passed. He spoke of this to Uncle Phin, but received no answer. The old man was fast asleep.
“Poor Uncle Phin!” said the boy to himself. “He must be very tired, and I won’t wake him till it’s time to go.”
So Arthur watched the lighted clock until it looked like a moon, and then he rubbed his eyes to make sure that it was not winking and laughing at him. And then—and then he too was fast asleep, with one arm thrown about Rusty’s neck, and the only sounds to be heard were the patter of rain on the roof of the motionless freight car, and the regular breathing of its three tired occupants.